Austerity: Resurrection? The main parties’ positions on fiscal policy and welfare spending at the 2019 general election

Abstract

Is austerity over? Such claims have been made, hyperbolically, by Conservative chancellors since around 2014. It briefly appeared that the 2019 general election would see the UK political elite making good on this promise, as all main parties produced grand spending pledges. Yet the truth remains more complicated. This article examines the near-future of UK austerity politics through the prism of the fiscal and welfare policies proposed in advance of the election. It finds the Conservative Party is largely where it has been since 2010, despite another change of leadership and the associated post-Brexit bluster. Can those in favour of reversing austerity at least look to the Labour opposition for a fresh approach? Yes and no.